Climate Change: The Philippines Haiyan Typhoon is not the Result of Global Warming
Global Research, November 15, 2013
Url of this article:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/climate-change-the-philippines-haiyan-typhoon-is-not-the-result-of-global-warming/5358195
http://www.globalresearch.ca/climate-change-the-philippines-haiyan-typhoon-is-not-the-result-of-global-warming/5358195
Haiyan (Yolanda), the strongest tropical typhoon ever recorded has
occurred in the Philippines with devastating consequences for an entire nation,
resulting in more than 10,000 deaths. An estimated 615,000
people have been displaced. Up to 4.3 million people have been affected,
according to government sources.
The tragedy in the Philippines has become a talking point at the Warsaw
international venue on Climate Change under UN auspices. The plight of typhoon
Haiyan has casually been assigned without evidence to the impacts of global
warming.
While there is no scientific evidence that Super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) was
the consequence of global warming, the opening statements at the Warsaw Summit
have hinted in no uncertain terms to a verified causal relationship. U.N.
Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive director Christiana Figueres,
stated (without evidence) that the typhoon was part of the sobering reality of
global warming. (quoted
in Did Climate Change Cause Supertyphoon Haiyan? | TIME.com, November 11,
2013).
In turn, Philippines Representative to the UN Climate Change Venue Mr. Yeb
Sano in his address to the opening session stated:“Typhoons such as Yolanda (Haiyan) and its impacts represent a sobering reminder to the international community that we cannot afford to procrastinate on climate action. Warsaw must deliver on enhancing ambition and should muster the political will to address climate change.” (UN News Center, November 11, 2013)
In a bitter irony, the tragedy in the Philippines has contributed to
reinforcing a consensus which indirectly feeds the pockets of corporations
lobbying for a new deal on carbon trade. Cap and Trade is a multibillion dollar
bonanza which is supported by the global warming consensus. According to UNFCC
head Figueres:
We must clarify finance that enables the entire world to move towards low-carbon development,… We must launch the construction of a mechanism that helps vulnerable populations to respond to the unanticipated effects of climate change.
Known and documented, cap-and-trade markets are manipulated. What is at stake
is the trade in carbon derivatives which is controlled by powerful financial
institutions including JP Morgan Chase. (See Copenhagens
Hidden Agenda: The Multibillion Trade in Carbon Derivatives, Global
Research, December 8, 2009). In 2008, Simon Linnett, Executive Vice-Chairman of
Rothschild’s acknowledged the nature of this multibillion dollar business:
Cap and trade packaged into derivative products feeds on the global warming consensus. Without it, this multibillion dollar trade would fall flat.As a banker, I also welcome the fact that the cap-and-trade system is becoming the dominant methodology for CO2 control. Unlike taxation, or plain regulation, cap-and-trade offers the greatest scope for private sector involvement and innovation.” (Telegraph, January 31, 2008)
The humanitarian crisis in the Philippines bears no relationship to global
warming. The social impacts of typhoon Haiyan are aggravated due to the lack of
infrastructure and social services, not to mention the absence of a coherent
housing policy. Those most affected by the typhoon are living in poverty in
make-shift homes.
A reduction of CO2 emissions as suggested Mr. Yeb Sano in his address to the
opening session of the Warsaw Climate summit will not resolve the plight of an
impoverished population.
In the Philippines, the social impacts of natural disasters are invariably
exacerbated by a macro-economic policy framework imposed by Manila’s external
creditors.
What is at stake is the deadly thrust of neoliberal economic reforms. For
more than 25 years, since the demise of the Marcos dictatorship, the IMF’s
“economic medicine” under the helm of the Washington Consensus has prevailed,
largely serving the interests of financial institutions and corporations in
mining and agribusiness.
The government of Benigno Aquino has embarked upon a renewed wave of
austerity measures which involves sweeping privatization and the curtailment of
social programs. In turn, a large chunk of the State budget has been redirected
to the Military which is collaborating with the Pentagon under Obama’s “Asia
Pivot”. This program –which serves the interests of Washington at the expense of
the Philippines population– also includes a 1.7 billion dollars purchase of
advanced weapons systems.
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